3 Women in Their 40s, 50s, and 60s Share Their Honest Opinions on a New Anti-Aging Toner

In our d’Alba Piedmont Peptide No Sebum Balancing Toner review, three women in their 40s, 50s, and 60s with combination skin and different skin concerns test the toner for a week.

When we first heard about the d’Alba Piedmont Peptide No Sebum Balancing Toner, we were beyond excited. Finally, a high quality anti-aging toner for oily and combination skin types. What makes this toner so exciting? Well, for one, there aren’t a lot of anti-aging products out there that claim to work well for oily and combination skin. This is because anti-aging products tend to be on the heavier side (think thick creams and heavy emulsions).

But d’Alba is serious about creating hard-working anti-aging products that work for all skin types. The company even has its own Research and Development Center so you know that these ingredients are top notch. This toner has a super light consistency and is packed with ingredients to both keep sebum at bay while fortifying skin to minimize the appearance of fine lines and improve hyperpigmentation. The key ingredients are white truffle sourced from Italy, which works to stimulate cell renewal and reveal bright, new skin, and pearl extract, a prized Korean ingredient for brightening skin.

To combat oil, BHAs and AHAs go to work to help eliminate blackheads and lightly exfoliate skin daily to control sebum production.

Sound interesting? Meet Shelle, Beth Ann, and Maria. Each of these women have combination skin and are looking for a product that will control their oil while also providing some solid anti-aging benefits. We reached out to them to test the toner for a week and then provide some un-biased insight on how this toner performs. Here’s what they thought.

Shelle, 42-years-old

First, tell us about your skin.

I have very sensitive, combination skin with hormonal acne, persistent blackheads on my nose, and steadily enlarging pores under my eyes and around my nose. Before I started K-beauty in November of last year, finding a good sunblock had always been impossible because of my sensitive skin, which is terrible because I live in Hawaii. I feel like my carefree, no-sunblock lifestyle has contributed a lot to the overall aging of my skin; I have a lot of patchy discoloration from a gnarly sunburn I got a couple of years ago from a day at the beach without sunblock.

What did you think of the ingredients in the d’Alba Piedmont toner?

The d’Alba Peptide No Sebum Balancing Toner is supposed to stimulate cell renewal to fade dull rough patches and dark spots. After some research, I found that the main ingredient is 44% pearl extract, which is rich in antioxidants, amino acids, and minerals. Most notably, pearl extract enhances the activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD), one of the body’s most powerful antioxidants.

Other ingredients include niacinamide, tuber magnatum (white truffle) extract, adenosine, betaine salicylate, acetyl hexapeptide-8 (a muscle relaxer to fight wrinkles), and five different kinds of hyaluronic acid! Almost every ingredient is a moisturizer, or is used for brightening, firming, smoothing, or general anti-aging. One possible irritant is lavender oil, however it doesn’t bother me, so I was really excited to try the toner! It seemed like the perfect toner to address all of my skin concerns.

How did you start using the product?

The directions on the box and from the Klog team were to put the Peptide No-Sebum Balancing Toner onto a cotton pad and wipe face and neck after double cleansing. In my toner step, I usually switch between the Acwell Licorice pH Balancing Toner and Son & Park Beauty Water. I really like both of these toners, so it was a big commitment for me to stop using them and to use the Peptide No-Sebum Balancing Toner for my morning and night routines.

My skin tends to break out if I use the same serum or moisturizer every day, so my skin care for the five days of testing was generally: double cleanse, Peptide No-Sebum Balancing Toner, Neogen Real Ferment Micro Essence or Missha First Treatment Essence, serum, moisturizer. In the mornings, I’d put sunblock on as my last step.

How did your skin react at first?

The toner has a warm, earthy herbal fragrance, almost like a tea or broth, which was calming and made me feel like I was giving my face a hearty soup of nutrients and love. My skin tingled upon first application, but didn’t burn or get blotchy. I saw some dirt on the cotton pad after using the toner, despite having double-cleansed before toning. I assumed that this was due to the toner containing BHAs.

How is your skin now?

I was surprised and pleased to find that my sensitive skin didn’t break out despite using the toner twice a day. As I continued to use the product, I noticed that my skin was softer to the touch, smoother, and seemed to be a little brighter. I consistently wiped dirt or dead skin onto the cotton pad, even after my double cleanse, so I think that the toner definitely deep cleans and resurfaces skin.

It’s hard for me to know if a new product is making a difference in my appearance, because I see myself every day, but looking at the before and after pictures, my skin looks smoother and not as blotchy! It also seems brighter and more even toned. I feel like a week is a really short timeframe to see noticeable changes, so I am very impressed.

Bottom Line:

I would definitely continue to use this product, but only in the morning due to the BHA content. The ingredient list is really impressive and I love the changes to my skin after only five days, however I want to continue to use my Triple C Lightning Liquid or retinol cream at night.

Beth Ann, 50-years-old

First, tell us about your skin.

I don’t really have many skin problems with my combination skin type. For having just turned 50, you could say I have the “typical” aging issues. I consider my problem area my crows feet, so a little Botox for that does the trick. Other than that, I’m all about anti-aging ingredients, particularly peptides, anti-oxidants and humectants.

What did you think of the ingredients in the d’Alba toner?

One of the main ingredients is Italian white truffle, which greatly increases cell renewal, has antibacterial properties, essential fatty acids, and proteins. Being that our skin is made of protein, like collagen and elastin, this ingredient is fantastic. The peptides included are great for anti-aging because they make chains of amino acids, which then make proteins to build our skin. So you could say I was excited. However, the humectants, like hyaluronic acid, are pretty far down the ingredients list. This tells me there’s not much in the product.

How did you start using the product?

I should mention that I followed my normal skin regimen. In the morning, I use a milky cleanser, vitamin C serum, peptide moisturizer, and SPF 30. At night, I take off my make-up with a cleansing balm, then wash my face with a glycolic/salicyclic cleanser, use a peptide serum, eye serum and a sleeping mask.

How did your skin react at first?

I had no reaction when I first started using this toner, with a pH of 5.6. I used it twice a day, as directed, but noticed nothing other than what sounded like I was swiping a little bit of soap suds on my face. As pretty as the bottle is, I’m not a fan of the way you apply it to a cotton round. Just tipping the bottle over does not let out any product (though some may think that’s fine, since there’s no spillage). You literally have to shake the bottle upside down to release any product. This seemed to make more come out than I really needed. There was no control, so perhaps redesigning the bottle would help this.

After using the toner for three days and nights, I noticed my skin started peeling and flaking (just like retin A might do) on my upper lip, around my mouth and on my chin. Now this could be from the increase in cell renewal, and possible cell turnover. On the fourth day, I just used it at night and continued that way until my testing time was over. At this point the peeling and flaking subsided. I believe that this toner is very “active” and that’s what caused the change in my skin texture. Continuing on, I would only use this once a day and gradually increase, so that the skin can get used to it.. I would advise others to do the same thing.

How is your skin now?

I didn’t notice a change in my skin until the third or fourth day, when the skin around my mouth, upper lip and chin were flaky and peeling. This was after following the directions of using it in the morning and night. I felt, when looking at the ingredients, that the toner was probably very “active,” so I cut it down to using it only at night. That did the trick and the flaking and peeling stopped.

I think that I would have to build up to using it two times a day. However, when looking at these pictures, if you look at my “before” picture, there’s a slight pigmented area high on my left cheek, but if you look at the “after” picture, it’s gone, so it obviously helped get rid of that. Pretty nice!

Bottom Line:

Would I choose to buy or continue to use this toner? Yes, with a dispensing change and a gradually increase of usage. I really think anyone looking for a good toner, the D’Alba Peptide No-Sebum Balancing Toner may be for them.

I think that the ingredients are outstanding in this toner. Like I said above, it did initially change the texture of my skin, but I backed off and it went back to normal. I’m still using it, so I obviously like it. I’m just working my way up to using it twice a day, as recommended. I would definitely recommend this product to friends and clients my age.

Maria, 65-years-old

First, tell us about your skin.

I have oily to combination skin. I also have Lupus and rheumatoid arthritis, which causes inflammation, so I also suffer from inflamed acne. I don’t breakout often due to my skin care routine, but when I do, my breakouts are very inflamed and very noticeable. I have suffered with acne all my life and try to take very good care of my skin.

What did you think of the ingredients in the d’Alba toner?

The toner has a lot of ingredients that I’m not very familiar with, but what caught my eye was the pearl extract, which was the very first ingredient listed. I’ve heard that pearl extract is suppose to be very good for brightening your skin, and I was pretty impressed that this product has this as the key ingredient. I was also impressed by the hyaluronic acid and Italian white truffle, which is suppose to be good for fading dark spots, which I have from acne scarring and aging.

How did you start using the product?

I stopped using my original toner that I’ve had for a couple and added this toner after I did my double cleanse. I used it twice a day morning and night. After I used the toner, I would use my usual serum and eye and face cream, along with my sunscreen. I didn’t add anything new to my routine besides the toner.

How did your skin react at first?

I already had a few breakouts before I started using the toner, and as instructed I used it with a cotton pad on my skin. Besides the breakouts I already had, I actually ended up having more inflamed breakouts around my T-zone and forehead. The toner has a strong scent, which is probably what caused the breakouts.

How is your skin now?

The toner did help with keeping my skin hydrated, especially where I have some dry patches on my face. I’m going to keep using it and see if my skin will keep adjusting to it!

+ Have you tried the d’Alba Piedmont Peptide No Sebum Balancing Toner? And which of our new Klog contributors do you resonate with most? Share your thoughts in the comments!